Building Gods Kingdom #9

Building Gods Kingdom Overview

In this ninth installment of the Building Gods Kingdom series, the pastor of NTC Ministries continues an in-depth exploration of how God has progressively governed his people through distinct administrations — from innocence in the Garden to the full expression of grace in the kingdom of heaven. The sermon opens by revisiting Matthew 16, where Jesus declares he will build his church upon the rock of divine revelation, connecting this to the Roman model of the ekklesia — called-out ones sent to expand a kingdom. A significant portion addresses the much-debated question of women in the church, examining 1 Corinthians 14 and 1 Timothy 2 with careful historical context. The pastor explains how the pagan temples of Aphrodite in Corinth and Artemis in Ephesus — both served by temple prostitutes — actively infiltrated early congregations to disrupt their gatherings. He introduces the concept of interpolation to help listeners evaluate whether certain silencing passages were original to Paul or added later. The teaching then moves into Ephesians 5, presenting biblical submission not as oppression but as a shared mission under God — a compound word meaning to be under a mission. Every believer, male or female, is called as a king and priest to declare the truth of the kingdom with love.

Building Gods Kingdom Outline

• 0:00 – Recap and Entry Point: The pastor briefly reviews the previous session on women in the church, anchoring the series in Matthew 16 and Jesus’ declaration to build his church on the rock of revelation.
• 8:30 – The Roman Model of the Ekklesia: An explanation of how Rome expanded its kingdom through called-out ones — the ekklesia — offering infrastructure and citizenship in exchange for allegiance, mirroring the kingdom of heaven’s invitation.
• 17:00 – Dispensations and the Blindness They Produce: A walk through the successive administrations of God — innocence, conscience, human government, promise, law — showing how each, outside of grace, blinds people to the fullness of God’s goodness.
• 28:00 – 1 Corinthians 14 and the Interpolation Debate: The pastor examines the passage commanding women to be silent in church, presenting scholarly arguments that verses 34-35 may be a later interpolation, given their contradiction of surrounding context.
• 39:00 – Aphrodite, Artemis, and the Disruption Strategy: Historical background on the temples of Aphrodite in Corinth and Artemis in Ephesus, explaining how their priestess-prostitutes were sent to infiltrate and destabilize the early New Testament church.
• 50:00 – Acts 19 and the Riot at Ephesus: Reading of Acts 19:11-41, detailing the miraculous works in Ephesus, the sons of Sceva incident, the mass burning of occult books, and the riot stirred by Demetrius the silversmith.
• 59:00 – Ephesians 5 and Biblical Submission: A verse-by-verse study of Ephesians 5:15-33, redefining submission as being under a mission — a mutual covenant calling where husbands love sacrificially and wives respect freely, both reflecting Christ and the church.
• 1:07:00 – Every Joint Must Supply: The pastor closes with a strong affirmation that no believer — man, woman, young or old — is excluded from the royal priesthood, and that the church silencing women forfeits half its spiritual power.

Scripture References

Matthew 16:13-18, Genesis 6:3, Galatians 3:13, Genesis 17, Ephesians 5:15-33, 1 Corinthians 14:26, 1 Corinthians 14:34-39, 1 Timothy 1:1-2, 2 Timothy 1:5-7, Acts 19:11-41, Psalm 68, Galatians 1:10, Hebrews 11

Key Takeaways

• The church was built upon the rock of divine revelation, not human tradition, and no human institution or religious system has the authority to override what God has established by his Spirit and his Word.
• Biblical submission is not a word of oppression but a compound calling — to be under a mission — and every believer, regardless of gender, is called to stand under the mission of the kingdom of heaven.
• The silencing of women in 1 Corinthians 14 and 1 Timothy 2 must be understood in their historical context of pagan temple disruption, and many scholars believe these verses were interpolated after Paul originally wrote them.
• God poured out his Spirit upon sons and daughters alike at Pentecost, commissioning all believers to prophesy, and the church that silences women surrenders half of its God-given spiritual power.
• Every administration of governance before grace — innocence, conscience, human government, promise, law — produced blindness to the fullness of God, and only in Christ are believers translated from darkness into light to see all his blessings.
• A husband loving his wife as Christ loves the church, and a wife respecting her husband, is not a hierarchy of worth but a divine pattern of mutual submission that reflects the relationship between Christ and the Father.
• The kingdom of heaven advances not through force, heckling, or political pressure, but through love, declared truth, signs and wonders, and believers who refuse to be moved by feelings-based governance.

Building Gods Kingdom Notes

The Ekklesia as Kingdom Strategy

Long before the word church carried religious meaning, the ekklesia described Rome’s most strategic diplomatic tool — called-out ambassadors sent to negotiate the expansion of an empire. They offered roads, schools, protection, and prosperity in exchange for allegiance and conformity. Jesus deliberately borrowed this term in Matthew 16, signaling that the kingdom of heaven operates on the same expansionist logic. Believers are not called out to huddle in safety but to extend the reign of heaven into every corner of the earth, inviting people to come under its governance by grace and through faith.

Feelings Governance Versus Kingdom Grace

One of the most penetrating threads in this message is the contrast between governance by feelings and governance by grace. From Eve’s fateful sensory reasoning at the tree of knowledge, through Israel’s cycles of emotional rebellion, to the modern culture of perpetual offense, humanity keeps defaulting to a feelings-first framework. The pastor points out that grace does not nullify feelings but refuses to be ruled by them. In Christ, there is no condemnation regardless of how one feels, and the Holy Spirit teaches believers to live by truth rather than emotional reaction — a radical reorientation that transforms communities.

Corinth and Ephesus Historical Context

Understanding why Paul wrote what he wrote requires entering the world of first-century Corinth and Ephesus. Both cities were dominated for over a thousand years by goddess worship — Aphrodite in Corinth and Artemis in Ephesus — whose temples employed more than a thousand priestess-prostitutes each. When new believers from these backgrounds entered the church, and when agents of these temples infiltrated the congregations to cause disruption, Paul’s urgent instructions about order and silence were pastoral triage, not timeless universal prohibitions against women speaking or leading in the body of Christ.

Submission as Shared Mission

The pastor offers one of the most liberating reframings of Ephesians 5 heard in contemporary preaching: submission is a compound word — sub plus mission — simply meaning to be under a mission. It is not a statement about inferior worth. Jesus himself modeled perfect submission to the Father, and that submission produced resurrection power. Husbands are called to a mission of sacrificial love that washes and presents a glorious bride. Wives are called to a mission of respect that mirrors the church’s trust in Christ. Both are servants. Both are priests. Both are needed for the mission to succeed.

Fotini and the Cost of the Mission

The story of Fotini — identified in early church history as the Samaritan woman at the well — illustrates the cost of standing under the kingdom mission as a woman. She planted over ninety churches, led multitudes to Christ including Nero’s own daughter and a hundred of her servants, and was ultimately martyred by being thrown into a dry well. The Greek word behind the phrase obtained a good report in Hebrews 11 is marto, the root of martyrdom. To receive that report is to be told by God himself, well done, thou good and faithful servant — and that commendation has never been reserved only for men.

The Word Prevails When Believers Stand

Acts 19 closes with a striking declaration: the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed. It prevailed because Paul and a community of believers refused to abandon their mission under pressure — whether from Jewish exorcists misusing Christ’s name, a mob of rioting idol merchants, or imperial persecution. The pastor draws a direct line to the present: the word prevails today only when people are willing to stand under the mission regardless of cost. God is in heaven; he has given the earth to humanity, and he has made his people kings and priests to rule and reign through love and truth.

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